WATSONVILLE >> The resignation of longtime local leader Oscar Rios from the Watsonville City Council left a vacancy that two residents are stepping forward to fill.

Construction laborer Aurelio Gonzalez and nonprofit manager Jenni Veitch-Olson are slated to face off June 5 for the District 2 City Council seat. Both candidates have served as local commissioners and in other community roles.

The pair are vying to represent the some 7,300 residents living against the city’s eastern edge in District 2, a predominantly residential neighborhood around Watsonville High School bounded by the Salsipuedes Creek to the east and Main Street to the south.

Looming over the race is the long shadow of Rios, who served on the council for a combined two decades and five terms as Watsonville mayor. But Rios’s long political career was abruptly cut short when he announced his resignation in February, citing allegations of sexual misconduct made by two women. Firefighter David Hermosillo, who lost to Rios by three votes in 2016, told the Sentinel he had no interest in another run at the seat.

VEITCH-OLSON

Raised in Moraga, Veitch-Olson moved to Watsonville in 2013 with her husband, Robby Olson, after he accepted a job as pastor at the United Presbyterian Church.

She said the couple soon found themselves becomingly increasingly involved in public service work in and out of the church and through supporting downtown revitalization efforts.

“We immediately felt a sense of home and belonging here in the community,” said Veitch-Olson, 38, who works as nonprofit manager at Digital NEST.

Veitch-Olson sits on the Watsonville Planning Commission as well as the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission. She previously served on the CASA of Santa Cruz County board, the South County Homelessness Steering Committee, and the Watsonville Mayor’s Youth Violence Prevention Task Force.

She said she is running her campaign around four central issues: economic development; ensuring a healthy community; public safety through partnerships between nonprofits, schools and police; and continuing Watsonville’s status as a sanctuary city and support for DACA recipients.

When she’s not involved in community and government, you might find Veitch-Olson lacing up her skates and playing for the Santa Cruz Derby Girls under the moniker Def Jen Wreckers.

“I love it,” she said of her sport. “When we have community events, I don’t ride a bike, I roller skate.”

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Veitch-Olson has secured a number of local endorsements, including from the Santa Cruz County Democratic Party. She also said she views her candidacy as part of a wave of women seeking public office.

“It’s all very much a part of this larger movement of women really taking a stand and running for office,” she said.

GONZALEZ

Raised in Watsonville since age 2, Gonzalez’s upbringing mirrors that of many Watsonville residents with his parents immigrating to the city from Mexico for work in agriculture.

Gonzalez, 55, said he has worked for nearly 30 years as a unionized construction laborer, mostly as a foreman.

“I’ve seen downtown change,” he said. “The cannery strikes, the earthquake — I was in the national guard when the earthquake hit.”

A former chairman of the Watsonville Planning Commission, Gonzalez has also served as a commissioner on the Santa Cruz County Housing Authority, as local sports coach, and for 12 years in the Army National Guard.

Gonzalez said he is running a grassroots campaign and didn’t go through the process to seek local endorsements.

“I decided to just stay within the community, because that’s the nucleus of me running for the City Council — to look after District 2,” he said.

If elected, he said he intends to focus on the concerns that he hears from his neighbors, whether related to safety or the economy.

“In walking the area and meeting the neighbors, I hear a lot of the concerns are lighting and street repairs,” he said. “You take it further, and they want better paying jobs, they want more diverse businesses within the city.”

He said he supports the city’s immigrant population and its continued sanctuary city status. In terms of development, Gonzalez said he supports more mixed-use development and downtown revitalization and advocating to bring in more business.

“As a community, you have to look at everything,” he said.

More information about the election, how to register to vote, and both candidates can be found online at votescount.com.

About the Author

Nicholas Ibarra covers government, education, cannabis and agriculture for the Sentinel. Raised in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Nicholas has earned multiple statewide awards for his writing, which has appeared throughout numerous Bay Area newspapers including the Mercury News and East Bay Times. He has also contributed reporting to publications including KQED Radio, Scientific American and Sierra Magazine. Nicholas earned a B.S. in journalism from San Jose State University. Reach the author at nibarra@santacruzsentinel.com
or follow Nicholas on Twitter: @nickmibarra.